Horses take over the Denver Botanic Gardens

Yesterday morning my husband, Len and I finally made it over to the Denver Botanic Gardens to see the cast bronze horse sculptures by Deborah Butterfield.  There was a beautiful blue sky with little chance of rain, finally.  There are 15 horses on loan from the artist, private collections, galleries and various museums.  
Butterfield was born on May 7, 1946, the same day as the 75th Kentucky Derby, which is only fitting since she has such a love of horses.

"Charlo" shown grazing is Butterfield's latest sculpture: cast bronze, painted and patinated.
She works with wood and scrap metal fastened together with wire.  Photographed from every angle, she recreates these horses in cast bronze.

"Storm Castle" was inspired from pieces of driftwood found from a pond near her winter home in Hawaii.   I really like the whole movement from the rump to the mane as if a huge snow storm was blowing the horse from the rear.  She spends the other part of the year at ranch in Bozman, Montana. 

Great positioning of "Tracery" amongst the grasses.

In 1997, the Denver Art Museum acquired three of Butterfield's horses, "Willy, Argus and Lucky".  The trio can be normally be viewed in the Kemper courtyard that is located on the north side of the Gio Ponti Building. "Lucky" is on loan for this exhibition.  He was one of Butterfield's favorite horses and she captured him perfectly.  "Lucky" enjoyed curling up like this on the ground and being petted.  Many of the sculptures are named after her own horses while other names come from significant places that are special to her.

"Whitebark" is very substantial but also looks very content.  Butterfield casts and assembles the horses in a foundry located in Walla Walla, Washington, the largest foundry in the United States. She works from large scaffolding, meticulously assembling cast bronze pieces that resemble branches and sticks.  It can take up to 3 to 5 years to complete one of her horses.
Weighing any where from 1,500 to 2,500 pounds, they were carefully set in place with a crane at the gardens

"Crane" has a certain beauty about him.

From a different perspective of "Crane",  I feel like he is reaching over the fence for a handful of alfalfa. 

"Willy" from the trio of horses at the Denver Art Museum.

"Hawai'i" from her own collection.

These skeletal larger-than-life horses are magnificent!   
The show runs through October 18, 2015.

A Little Dinner Party For My Mom's 89th Birthday

 Last weekend I had a little dinner party for my mom's, Lorraine, 89th birthday.  When my parents decided to move up to Denver two years ago to be closer to me and Len, I was fortunate to get many of my mom's gorgeous tablecloths since they were downsizing and had sold their huge dining room table.  I just adore this batik tablecloth that they had bought over 35 or 40 years ago in the small fishing village, Yelapa.  back then the best way to get there was by boat from Puerto Vallarta.

I made another horsetail grid armature to set nine roses on it, the stems cut two inches from the bottom of the square vase.

A wonderful photo of my pretty mom!

And my dad, Bob, handsome at 93!

More roses in one of my copper pots from Santa Clara de Cobre in the state of Michocan in Mexico.

This was the menu for the evening.  The spiced nuts and chicken liver pate will be in my upcoming appetizer cookbook.  I need to get cracking on that again but spending time outside in the summer seems to get the best of me.  Especially since I have a new bike!!  More about that later.

Appetizers and drinks in the living room.

Marinated lamb about to be put on the grill.

I finally made these Eggplant Parmesan Stacks.  What is great about this, they can be prepped ahead of time and then put in the oven for 15 minutes before platting them.

EGGPLANT PARMESAN STACKS - Serves six


3 medium eggplants, 3" - 4" diameter
   salt
  olive oil
simple tomato sauce (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
6 ounces fresh whole milk mozzarella
1 cup freshly grated Paremesan 

Cut the eggplant into 18 slices, about 1/4" thick - sprinkle with salt
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and saute slices in batches until soft and pale golden.
Drain on paper towels.

I like to make the Basic Tomato Sauce from Mario Batali's cookbook, Molto Italiano.
I make a big batch of it and freeze 2 cup servings in zip-locs.  Sure makes life easier.
Add the oregano and basil to the sauce.

Line a baking dish or sheet pan with parchment paper.  Place six eggplant on the sheet.  Top with a tablespoon of the tomato sauce, a few pieces of mozzarella, topped with a healthy sprinkling of Parmesan.  Repeat layering twice.

Bake in 425 oven for 15 minutes or until the cheeses are bubbling.  Garnish with a few oregano leaves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I made more of a casserole of this recipe and sent if home with my parents so they could have it the next night for dinner.  Actually two night in a row!

It was a great evening of delicious food, good wine, great friends and some very nice gifts.
Next year will be a big celebration, Lorraine's 90th.

 


 

More Talent in Downtown Denver

A few weeks ago, I wrote about some murals in downtown Denver around Larimer and Lawrence streets. 

I was really intrigued by these murals.

I love the composition, design and colors.

Pretty cool.  Enjoy!

Interesting Old Buildings in Denver with Great Craftmanship

I am fascinated by the number of beautiful old buildings in Denver and the craftsmanship that went into constructing them!  Look at the intricate brick work on the Horace Mann Middle School designed by Temple Buell in 1931.   The explosion of the blond and dark brick parapets is beautiful.  Very Art Deco.  The school is located at 4130 Navajo Street.

The Fairmont School built in 1924 in north-west Denver has some great details such as bay windows, ceramic trim and Gothic arches.

From the library photo archives, I found this interior shot.  This fireplace in the school is fascinating.  The surround has silhouettes of nursery rhyme figures:  Little Bo Peep, Jack and Jill, Mother Goose and barn yard animals.

Built in 1901, the Park Hill Elementary School at 5050 East 19th Avenue features a stucco facade

with tiles of the Mediterranean revival design.

Elaborate brickwork was the featured design element on the Bryant Webster School.  Built in 1930, the architects designed the layout of the bricks to represent the American Indian's bead work and basketry.  

The bricks have an opalescent glaze to them and when the sunlight hits them at a certain angle, they glisten.  The school is at 3635 Quivas Street in the Highlands area.

Then we have the majestic Highlands Masonic Temple at 3550 Federal boulevard.  Built in 1926 in the Neoclassical Revival style.  I love the impressive entrance with the massive Ionic columns along with the grill work.
It's amazing what you will see if you just go a different route and do some exploring in the neighborhoods around Denver.

Murals in Downtown Denver

As I mentioned in my last post, Denver has incredible art.  You just have to be adventuresome to discover some of the murals, especially in LoDo.  Drive down some alleys.  That is exactly what we did the other day after lunch.

I was amazed on the number of murals and the talent!  Unfortunately I do not know anything about the artist.

We zig-zaged back and forth on Larimar Street and Lawrence Street and kept heading north.

Being in the alleys, sometimes it is hard to really get a good perspective of the art.

Love the colors.

Looks like a Chinese kite to me.

The next few murals were in a parking lot.

Great composition.

The art pretty much says it all.

Since I shot these photos,  I am sure there are even  more to be found!  Enjoy.

Denver has some great public art!

The public art in downtown Denver is exceptional.  There is always something new popping up, a sculpture or a mural. 

One of my favorite sculptures is Indeteminate Line by Bernar Venet.  This steel sculpture was installed in 2004 at the corner of Speer Boulevard and Stout Street, right in front of the Colorado Convention Center.  I like the contrast of the twisted steel against the linear lines of the convention center. To create the perfect rust, Venet used COR-TEN steel on the surface of the art piece. Indeterminate Line was manufactured in Hungry and shipped over to Denver in pieces.

Around the corner and a few blocks away is the great blue bear, I See What You Mean by Lawrence Argent. Argent was born in England and trained in sculpture at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.  Currently he is a professor of art at the University of Denver.

On 14th Street, the 40 foot Blue Bear is looking into the Convention Center.  The surface is coated in a lapis lazuli blue, polymer concrete.  It is so popular, it has become a Mile High Icon. 

Lau Tzu by Mark de Suvero is in Acoma Plaza which is located between the Denver Public Library and the Denver Art Museum's North Building.  I particularly like the color the  sculpture is painted.  The Lau Tzu is 30 feet tall and is made of 16 tons of industrial I-beams.

I have a fond memory of taking this photo of my brother, Carter and my parents in front of the Suvero sculpture years ago.  It was Christmas time and we had just dined at Palettes, the museum's restaurant.

The bronze sculpture, Scottish Angus Cow and Calf by Dan Ostermiller sits on the south side of the Denver Art Museums' Hamilton Building.

Ostermiller understands the anatomy of animals quite well for he worked with his father who was a taxidermist.   He is more interested in representing the mood and personality of the animal rather than dwell on the exact proportions.

Another favorite of mine is the 32 foot blue aluminum sculpture by Joe Shapiro that stands amongst the trees between the Clyfford Still Museum and the Denver Art Museum.  Shapiro is known for his dynamic sculptures composed of simple rectangular shapes.  Titled For Jennifer, it is in honor of Jennifer Moulton, director of planning and development for the City and County of Denver from 1992 - 2003 who died in 2004.  
Once the weather gets a bit warmer and the bike paths are void of snow,  I will be on the lookout for new murals and art.  What a great city!